Dwayne Gretzky @ Commodore Ballroom -- September 25, 2026

Fifteen years ago, Dwayne Gretzky was born when Toronto musicians Tyler Kyte & Nick Rose got together in a basement with some of their friends to jam on some cover songs. And after years of just releasing videos on their youtube channel, they’ve finally put out their first album with Dwayne's World, Vol. 1, hitting the road across Canada to celebrate. I caught them earlier this year when they did a free show at the PNE, and they were so fun I knew I had to see them in a proper venue. And what better place than the Commodore.

Of course, the rare times I’m running late are when a show actually starts on time, and I got there just as they were wrapping up the first song (I hope) as the eleven(!) members on stage then kicked in to “Walk of Life”. From there they blasted through two sets of selections from the 880 songs they’ve covered, mostly rock favourites from the 70s and 80s. The four singers — Tyler Kyte, Nick Rose, Lydia Persaud, and Carleigh Aikins — traded off songs, often providing backup vocals and/or dancing along when not on lead. They all had a chance to show off, but none more powerful than the one-two-punch of Lydia and Carleigh, respectively, on “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “The Best”, each letting loose. Other highlights from the first half included a stellar “Heart of Glass” and a version of “Once in a Lifetime” almost as good as my favourite cover of the song.

The first half of the evening came to a close with a raucous “Dancing in the Dark”, taking a half-hour intermission before they wee back to make the ballroom bounce with “Jump” and a sentimental favourite of mine, “You Can Call Me Al”. They kept pumping out the hits as Ian Docherty got to shred on guitar for “Let’s Go Crazy”; “9 to 5” was heartwarming; I very much appreciated Nock Rose doing the Scottish accent on “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)”; and they teased their 881st cover with “Goodbye Stranger”. They only dipped into the 90s a few times during the set, including “Come to My Window” and drummer Adam Hindle taking over lead vocals for “Sabotage”, power-stance and all.

After some more (mostly) synchronised dancing to “Radio Ga Ga” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”, the band wrapped up the main set with the whole room clapping along to “Under Pressure”, but were of course back out for a couple more, going back to the 60s. First, the Erma Franklin classic “Piece Of My Heart” (though they were clearly inspired by the Big Brother & the Holding Company version with Janis Joplin) and then sending everyone home with campfire vibes and the Canadian classic, “The Weight”.

It’s easy to see why they have earned the nickname of Canada’s Favourite Party Band, as it would be quicker to name which songs people were not dancing & singing along to. Though it would have been fun to hear them branch out a little from the ‘classic rock hits’ umbrella, they still put on an incredibly fun show.

setlist
[missed song(s)]
Walk of Life by Dire Straits
Heart of Glass by Blondie
Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
Grease by Frankie Valli
We Got the Beat by The Go-Go's
Domino by Van Morrison
Don't Stop Me Now by Queen
The Best by Tina Turner
Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
Walking on Broken Glass by Annie Lennox
Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel
Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen
(Intermission - half hour)
Jump by Van Halen
You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon
Come to My Window by Melissa Etheridge
Let’s Go Crazy by Prince and The Revolution
9 to 5 by Dolly Parton
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli
Sabotage by Beastie Boys
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp
Radio Ga Ga by Queen
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA
Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen
(encore)
Piece Of My Heart by Big Brother and the Holding Company + Janis Joplin
The Weight by The Band

PHOTOS: Arkells, Ernesto Barahona @ Commodore Ballroom - May 09, 2026

Arkells, with Ernesto Barahona
Commodore Ballroom
May 09, 2026

Christine McAvoy Photography

Arkells City Takeover: Vancouver -- May 07 - 09, 2026

To celebrate their brand new album, Between Us, Arkells decided to stage a Western Canadian takeover with nine intimate shows in three cities; Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. They kicked it off with the very first venue they ever played here, The Penthouse (yes, that Penthouse), with another show at the Hollywood Theatre, and then the first venue I saw them play, the Commodore Ballroom (though, I’m sure they didn’t choose it for that reason specifically).

I wanted to make the hat trick of shows, but night two conflicted with Holy Fuck at the Pearl, so had a little Arkells sandwich, staring with:

Night One: The Penthouse

Opening the show for the first night was Ernesto Barahona, the ‘trombone DJ’. He promised to hype up the crowd with some party jams as he DJ’d a set that spanned from soul classics like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to modern hits “Where Is My Husband!”. But the twist lied where every few songs he would bust out the trombone to play along. He also had the crowd singing along with “Psycho Killer” before ending the set with the biggest singalong to “Mr. Brightside”. It was a very fun opening set, especially in a venue like the Penthouse, with my only quibble being I wish he had played along on trombone to more of the songs.

After a brief break, and the owner of the Penthouse coming out to thank everyone for coming, “People Get Ready” by The Impressions blast over the speakers and the lights flashed red, transitioning first into a train crossing noise, and then “Next Summer” as Max Kerman, Mike DeAngelis, Anthony Carone, Nick Dika, and Tim Oxford took the stage.

They ran through the entire new album Between Us front to back, with highlights including the infinitely catchy “What Good?”, “Money” which had Max throwing Arkell Bucks out into the crowd (sadly, no one tried to tuck them back into his shirt), and the heartfelt “Desire’s Got Some Questions”

As ever, Max was an unstoppable force of energy, bounding around the stage, spinning around the pole, and even jumping into the crowd for “Ride”. Mike also made use of the catwalk, strutting up to shred on his guitar, but Anthony was the only other member to come forward, just for a brief moment at the end for a spin. Max also made sure to pause and tell the story of the first time they played in Vancouver, in that very room, not even realising it was a strip club until they were on stage & Max saw the pole.

There was a nice moment when, during “Two Hearts” Max noticed a couple people making a ‘hearts exploding’ hand gesture, and when the song ended he grabbed someone’s phone to get a video, getting the band to replay the chorus so everyone could mime along, as he hoped it would catch on.

Near the end of the album, Ernesto was back out to join on trombone for “What’s On Your Mind” and the album wrapped up with the ethereal “Escape Door” before a quick intermission from the band.

The second half of the night was a set of Arkells classics, starting off with the explosive “Come to Light” and not slowing down. They hit songs from their entire career, from the titular “Michigan Left” up to “Skin” off Laundry Pile, and even a deep cuts they haven’t played in a decade, “Coffee”.

Max introduced “And Them Some” as the most romantic song ever played in a strip club, before telling the story about how many people contact them saying it was the first dance at their wedding, then when he found out some people in the room used it as theirs, he got everyone to make some space on the floor so they could have another dance.

After the incendiary “Whistleblower” and a massive singalong to “Leather Jacket”, Max threw back to the first time they were on that stage, with hands down my favourite Arkells song, “John Lennon”, as the raw emotion pouring off the stage — and reciprocated, from the crowd joining in.

And of course what would an Arkells show be without a cover, as the wrapped up the night with The Boss’ “Dancing in the Dark”, Max once more wading into the crowd to sing with the packed room.

The band thanked everyone as “Pony” by Ginuwine filled the room, and despite the crowd chanting for one more song, it was clear they had left it all on stage already.
(And as someone that wants to normalize no more encores, good for them!)

Night Three: Commodore Ballroom

Ernesto once again opened the show with the same trombone DJ set, before the “People Get Ready” intro and Arkells came out to play through Between Us in full. They hit some of the same notes, Max wading out into the crowd for “Ride” and passing out their Arkell Bucks for “Money”, but also some new twists. A young girl joining them on stage for the latter, and thanks to their socials, the hand gesture for “Two Hearts” had already taken off. And being at the Commodore, they had more room to flex, musically and literally as Max used every inch of the stage. He also made sure to tell the sold out crowd how lucky we are to have the venue, and how much the band loves playing it.

Like with the Penthouse, there was a quick intermission after the album and they were back for a set of classics, starting off with another they hadn’t played in a decade, “Fake Money”. Incredibly, the second half of the night was almost entirely different across all three shows as they delved through their whole history, from “Past Life” off Blink Twice to a special version of Michigan Left’s “On Paper”, which started with the slow and moody ‘In the Dark’ version before bursting with energy.

Other highlights including the explosive “Relentless”, and the killer one-two punch of an old favourite “Oh, The Boss is Coming!” with everyone yelling along, and somehow upping the energy with “Knocking On The Door” as Ernesto rejoined them on trombone.

Their cover for the night was the Talking Heads classic “Life During Wartime”, and after a raucous “You Can Get It”, they took their leave, but the crowd was eager for more, even chanting “we’re not leaving”, which happened the previous night at the Hollywood as well. And so most of the band took back to the stage, except for Max who snuck out the side door and stood on one of the tables for an acoustic beginning to “Leather Jacket”, singing the first verse completely unamplified with the crowd joining in, only for the band to kick back in and Max to run back on stage, ending the night with a bang.

The last few times I’ve seen Arkells have been arena shows, and as much as they deliver in those big stages, there’s nothing like seeing one of Canada’s best live bands play one of Canada’s best venues (and also a strip club). They could have easily booked another big arena show and been done with it, but this city takeover created something special for the fans.

Commodore Setlist
Next Summer
What Good?
Ride
Money
Imagine Barcelona
Desire’s Got Some Questions
Universe Talking
Two Hearts
What’s On Your Mind
Rumour
Escape Door
[intermission]
Fake Money
Past Life
Relentless
Oh, the Boss Is Coming!
Knocking At The Door Ernesto
American Screams
Life During Wartime [Talking Heads cover]
Only For A Moment
On Paper
You Can Get It
(encore)
Leather Jacket

Penthouse Setlist
Next Summer
What Good?
Ride
Money
Imagine Barcelona
Desire’s Got Some Questions
Universe Talking
Two Hearts
What’s On Your Mind
Rumour
Escape Door
[intermission]
Come to Light
Michigan Left
People’s Champ
One Thing I Know
And Then Some
Coffee
Skin
Dirty Blonde
Whistleblower
Leather Jacket
John Lennon
Dancing in the Dark [Bruce Springsteen cover]

PHOTOS: Sam Roberts Band @ Commodore Ballroom - April 16, 2026

Sam Roberts Band
Commodore Ballroom
April 16, 2026

Christine McAvoy Photography

Sam Roberts Band: Chemical City 20th Anniversary Tour @ Commodore Ballroom -- April 16, 2026

Twenty years ago, Sam Roberts released his acclaimed sophomore album Chemical City and to celebrate the anniversary, Sam Roberts Band is playing a very special five city tour across Canada. Coincidentally, it was twenty years ago I first saw them live*, so I was excited that one of the stops on this tour was the Commodore Ballroom.
*A bonkers lineup of Jets Overhead, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and Sam Roberts at Deer Lake Park!

With no opening act for the night, the stage filled with blue smoke and Sam Roberts Band took the stage, silhouetted by backlights as the iconic intro of “The Gate” filled the room as they launched into Chemical City in its entirety. From the crowd joining in on songs like “Bridge to Nowhere” and “With a Bullet”, to the soft acoustic “Uprising Down Under” and the hard hitting “The Bootleg Saint”, the band blast through with Sam only stopping briefly to talk about their history with Vancouver and recording this album in Australia. I was also happy to hear my favourites off the album, “The Resistance” which I haven’t heard live in some time, and the psychedelic 8+ minute jam “Mind Flood” (which was a little funny to hear so early in the set and not closing it out).

Sam took over the keys as the beautiful piano ballad “A Stone Would Cry Out” closed out the album, and after the band took a quick break they were back not just for an encore, but a whole other set packed with the hits.

Kicking off by getting everyone to dance to “Them Kids”, the sold out room joined in on almost every song, going all the way back to The Inhuman Condition with “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” and up to Lo-Fantasy’s “We’re All In This Together”. After the rollicking “Detroit ‘67” and the crowd loudly wondering “Where Have All the Good People Gone?”, Roberts paused once more to finish telling the story of Chemical City’s recording, including a b-side to the album with “Fall Before You Finish”.

And finally, after nearly two hours the band wrapped up the set with a couple more crowd pleasers, “Hard Road” and the biggest singalong of the night to “Brother Down”, ending with the band jamming as Roberts went up to the front row, hugging and high fiving everyone he could reach.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I always love a show where a band will play their album in full; be it a brand new one for their launch or celebrating an old favourite. And it’s especially fun when they can go on to a second set to remind you just how many bangers they’ve had over their career. I’ve seen Sam Roberts (Band) a handful of times over these last twenty years, and they always put on an incredible show full of energy as one of the best live rock bands in Canada.

setlist
(Chemical City)
The Gate
Bridge to Nowhere
With a Bullet
Mind Flood
Uprising Down Under
Mystified, Heavy
An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
The Bootleg Saint
The Resistance
A Stone Would Cry Out
(The Hits)
Them Kids
Don’t Walk Away Eileen
We’re All in This Together
Detroit ‘67
Where Have All the Good People Gone?
Fall Before You Finish
Hard Road
Brother Down